NFBE Chapter 65: I have enough money to raise chickens, ducks and geese
Chapter 65: I have enough money to raise chickens, ducks and geese
Ning Huaizhi looked at Jiang Yuwei's regretful expression, and couldn't help but curl his lips slightly and whispered:
"Wife, why don't you ask me if I can drive a bullock cart?"
Jiang Yuwei stared at Ning Huaizhi's half-smile and asked blankly:
"Then you, can you drive a bullock cart?"
Ning Huaizhi smiled at Jiang Yuwei and said lovingly:
"Okay, wife, get in the car quickly. You're responsible for showing the way, and I'll be responsible for driving."
When Jiang Yuwei saw Ning Huaizhi like this, she couldn't help but blush. She was so stupid. Ning Huaizhi had been a soldier and rode a horse, so why didn't she think that he would definitely be able to drive an ox cart.
After Jiang Yuwei got on the car, she pointed at East Street and said:
"Let's go to the East Street Market and buy some food. Then we'll see if there's anyone selling poultry. We can buy some to raise at home. Otherwise, we can't leave the sheds we built at home empty. It just so happens that we have a bullock cart that can pull some."
Ning Huaizhi smiled and tightened the rope, patted the cow on the butt, and whispered in Jiang Yuwei's ear:
"Okay, I'll listen to my wife."
Jiang Yuwei's cheeks blushed from the breath of Ning Huaizhi, and she lowered her head and muttered softly:
"Don't call me your wife outside anymore. I, I'm embarrassed."
Ning Huaizhi liked to see his wife blushing, and said with a smile:
"I'll just call you my wife, and you were my wife to begin with."
The family of three came to the vegetable market talking and laughing. As soon as Jiang Yuwei entered the market, she saw vendors selling baby chickens, ducklings and goslings, so she got off the ox cart and went up to ask.
"How much is a hen?"
The old woman selling chicks saw that there was business coming and smiled as she grabbed a chick and handed it to Jiang Yuwei, saying:
"Madam, please take a look at these chicks at home. They are all full of energy and we will definitely be able to raise them when we get home. These are all chicks that we hatched ourselves. The hen chicks are 20 cents each, the ducklings are also 20 cents each, and the goose chicks here are 30 cents each."
Seeing that these cubs were well-raised and could be raised by herself, Jiang Yuwei simply picked out ten hens, ten ducks, and two geese, one male and one female. She kept the hens and ducks for laying eggs, and the geese were kept to guard the house.
Jiang Yuwei paid the money, loaded the kids onto the ox cart, and told Ning Huaizhi and Ning Wan to wait for her in the cart.
Jiang Yuwei went into the market to buy some seasonings, then went to the butcher shop to buy some meat. She then went to the grain and oil shop to buy some rice, flour, grain and oil. Then she carried the big and small bags out of the vegetable market and put them on the ox cart.
The three of them drove the ox cart towards Ningjia Village. On the way, they met Uncle Ning Wu who was still waiting for them. Jiang Yuwei then moved the items from the stall to her own cart. In the future, now that she had her own ox cart, she no longer had to take Uncle Ning Wu's cart to come to town. It was really much more convenient.
After returning home, Jiang Yuwei helped Ning Huaizhi out of the car, and moved the things she bought from the market down and put them away. Then she drove the cows to the cowshed, unloaded the cart and put it behind the house, and moved the chicks and ducklings on the cart to the chicken coop. Jiang Yuwei had already laid hay in the shed, so there was no problem raising the chicks in it.
Jiang Yuwei put the goose chicks in the yard and let them get familiar with the environment. Seeing so many new animals suddenly coming to the house, the wild cat Xiaojiu started to smell them one by one curiously. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei was afraid that Xiaojiu would not be able to hold back and bite the chicks to death, so she hurried forward to touch Xiaojiu's head and said:
"Xiaojiu, you can't bite it. We want to keep it for laying eggs."
Xiaojiu looked at Jiang Yuwei as if he understood, and then lowered his head to lick the feathers of the chicks one by one. The chickens and ducks seemed to like Xiaojiu very much. Now Xiaojiu didn't even live in his own little house, and lay directly in the chicken coop, hugging a group of chicks in his arms. Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to let him go.
After all the poultry in the backyard were settled, Jiang Yuwei said to Ning Wan:
"Wan'er, remember to cut more grass when you go out to cut grass today. In the future, not only will you need to feed the little rabbits, but our cattle will also need to eat."
Ning Wan smiled and nodded, then picked up the backpack and went out.
Jiang Yuwei chopped up the rotten vegetable leaves left over from cooking and mixed them with coarse grains to cook a pot of chicken feed on the stove in the yard, which she took to the backyard to feed the chickens.
Then he took out the ten lanterns he had bought in town today. He first hung two at the gate of his yard, then hung two at the door of the main house in the yard, and then hung the remaining four lanterns in the cowshed, sheep shed and chicken coop in the backyard.
Jiang Yuwei thought that she had been very busy these days and had no time to collect honey. She should have saved up a lot of honey now, so she put the leftovers from serving the guests yesterday in the pot to heat up, and then she picked up the backpack and went outside the house under the locust tree.
The locust flowers were in full bloom at this time, and the bees were busy. Jiang Yuwei thought that this batch of locust flower honey should be delicious, so she began to harvest the honey. After harvesting all the beehives she had made before, she picked up the bamboo pole hook she made, hooked a lot of locust flowers and put them into the backpack, preparing to go back and pick some so that she could make some locust flower buns to eat tomorrow.
When Jiang Yuwei entered the yard, she saw Ning Wan's small backpack already in the yard, so she put down the backpack and went to the backyard to check. She saw Ning Wan feeding grass to the yellow cattle, and the wild cat Xiaojiu was lying on the back of the yellow cattle licking its fur. She smiled helplessly and said:
"Wan'er, be careful. Come to the front yard to eat after you feed the cows."
Seeing Ning Wan nodded obediently, Jiang Yuwei went back to the front yard and lit all the lanterns. She liked such a bright yard.
When Ning Huaizhi came out of the house, he saw Jiang Yuwei looking at the lantern with a smile on her face. He felt very satisfied. Now his courtyard really felt like home. All this was thanks to his capable wife. Thinking of this, Ning Huaizhi smiled at Jiang Yuwei and said:
"Wife, what are you going to do with all those locust branches?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and pushed Ning Huaizhi into the yard. She picked up a locust branch and handed it to him. She then casually moved a wooden basin from the yard to Ning Huaizhi's feet and instructed him:
"Huaizhi, just pluck the flowers like this and we can save them for making dumplings with the flowers tomorrow. I'll go light a fire and make some lard. We'll eat after Wan'er finishes feeding the cows."
The family of three was busy with their own things. Under the warm yellow light, the courtyard looked very quiet and cozy at this moment.
Jiang Yuwei took the refined lard out of the pot, scooped out the lard residue and sprinkled some salt on it. The fragrant lard and a plate of crispy lard residue were ready.
Jiang Yuwei put the lard in the kitchen, then went to the pot to bring the hot food to the stone table in the yard. After bringing the lard residue to the table, she filled a basin with water for Ning Huaizhi to wash his hands first, then pushed him to the side of the stone table, and then went to the backyard to call Ning Wan.
When Jiang Yuwei arrived at the backyard, she saw Ning Wan had already finished feeding grass to the cows and rabbits, and was chasing Xiao Jiu around the backyard, quacking with joy. The ducklings that had just been caught also lined up behind Ning Wan and ran after her. Jiang Yuwei shook her head helplessly. Did these ducklings mistake Wan'er for their mother?
Jiang Yuwei laughed and shouted:
"Wan'er, stop running. You're sweating all over. Let's go to the front yard to eat."
Just as Jiang Yuwei finished speaking, she heard a loud noise in the front yard. Jiang Yuwei immediately became alert and pulled Ning Wan and ran to the front yard desperately.